I had never heard of these books. I saw the advertisment on a Lunchables box.
It looks absolutely hilarious because it's starring Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey, and Jim Carrey.:D What looks promising though is that Jim is doing more of a method, charachter acting rather than Ace Ventura knockoffs so it is a breath of fresh air even for as big of a Jim Carrey fan as I. Even I get weary of the same charachter over and over. It has the whole Harry Potter feel to it and comes out December 17!!! So I'll get my magical movie for the holidays.:)

Hellboy

09-29-2004, 02:39 PM

I've seen the trailer a few times now and think it looks really cool. I'm not by any means a Harry Potter fan but I agree it does seem to have sort of the same feel to it. Kinda looks like a cross between that and a Tim Burton film. Jim Carrey's preformances already look amazing and it is nice to see him doing multiple roles in a film kinda like Eddie Murphy did in Nutty Professor. Hope it turns out good.

stillakid

09-30-2004, 12:11 AM

The only feedback I've heard so far was from a youngster who had read the book already. Apparently the lead character is supposed to be pretty dark but Carrey's version is coming off as more silly and slapstick like he usually does. So according to this person, the movie was probably "kiddified." That's not saying it isn't going to be good on it's own merits, but for any fan of the book, it might not exactly translate the same. I'm personally not a big fan of Carrey's usual schtick so seeing the same tired faces and antics of his doesn't intrigue me much. The idea for the story sounds interesting though.

scruffziller

12-20-2004, 06:06 PM

Man, what a huge disappointment.....:(
The movie was just.................flat. And seemed very pointless. The impression I got was that it was going to be intriguing but it had no mystery or anticipation.

I have to say, even as big Jim Carrey fan, he is pretty much over.
He is awesome in the movies he played when he was getting started, but now he is just too predictable and it really does not have the impact anymore. Unless you have never seen him until now. It is like going to see a comedian who does the same jokes every show that you see them even if those times are a few years in between.

I will say that a good number of the visuals were pretty good and there were some funny moments of Jim but it was a huge letdown and I was bored most of the time. 2 out 5 stars.

Exhaust Port

12-20-2004, 06:35 PM

I haven't read the book(s) and didn't really care for the movie. Even without reading the books I got the feeling as I was watching it that "it was better as a book". There were a few times it appears that they skipped over in order to compress the story. The worst example was after they arrived at the cave after crossing the lake and the narrator says "They sure had quite an adventure crossing the lake" and we didn't see any of it. (Not to mention that they went to Peru and we didn't see anything at all).

The visuals were good and reminded me of A Big Fish quite a bit. The actors where fine and did what they could with the time they had. The characters would have been a lot more interesting if we could have spent time with them. Because of the pace of the movie it seems like we had no more than 5 minutes of face time with each then 10 minutes of the kids troubleshooting the situation.

As Stilla mentioned, Carrey's character should have been a lot darker rather than the slapstick version that we got. It might have been better to have someone other than Carrey play the Count.

I came away from the movie with a lot of questions with very few answers offered by the movie. Sure they fixed the issue with the Count and answered the question of what started the fire at their old house but that was about it. What was the connection between all the family members as seen in the picture? What was the significance of the brass looking glass? Was the Count responsible for all the fires? What was his modivation (and I don't think it could only be the money as he went after all the family members)? You get the idea....

It comes across as a dark movie that is lightened up enough to get kids in the door. With all the deaths and bizarre wedding (which really creeped me out BTW) I really don't think the director had an honest direction or was honest to the story's mood.

aceguide

12-21-2004, 09:19 AM

All I have to say is that you all should read at least one of the books.

That being said, there are 11 installments in the series, this movie covered three. You will find that while the books are dark, there is very much a large sense of humor throughout. Many of the questions that Exhaust Port had have not yet been answered in the books (for example in reading the books there is no resolution as to how the fire started).

I felt it was a good adaptation of the overall feel of the books. The actors, expecially the children, all did a good job. Carry was a bit over the top - but I thought that the character could go either way. He clearly was no criminal matermind - nor was he in the books.

The movie was no masterpiece, but undertanding that it must be the first in a series it was a good introduction. Also, I was impressed with the author and his involvement in the filim process. He kind of said "do what you want" and left it at that. Very un-Rowling like, and therefore might never match the books as one might hope...

Lowly Bantha Cleaner

12-23-2004, 10:40 PM

Haven't seen the movie yet, but judging by comments posted, I might want to wait to see it at home.

The books are a great read, and are kinda cool in the fact that the good characters of the book, three orphans named Violet, Klaus and Sunny face something like one continuous Second Act; small triumphs but never a happy ending. The author, Lemony Snicket, is a quirky author who always apoligizes for telling us about the sad, tragic fate of the Baudleire orphans and the relentless pursuit of Count Olaf and his cronies.

I think adults would enjoy the books, they are a little pricey for children's literature ($11.99) but they are a perfect book for those who don't like reading because it sprinkles the right amount of humor, action, tragedy and happiness into each book. As ace mentioned, there are 11 books, and it doesn't matter which one you pick up first, because Snicket will fill you in on the details from the previous books.

evenflow

12-24-2004, 07:47 AM

This movie does nothing for me. I have no interest in seeing it. It seems like a rip off of WIlly Wonka and Harry Potter. I am sure the books are much better than the movie looks.

RooJay

12-31-2004, 02:31 AM

I finally got to see this movie the other day, and as with so many other films recently I have to disagree completely with the general impression of the film being given here. I loved it. I thought it was utterly charming, both dark and funny at the same time without seeming forced, and it felt very much in the vein of the classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The kids were absolutely perfect - there was absolutely no hint of the typical obnoxious overacting seen with so many child actors and I even felt that these kids physically fit the style and feel of the movie. I'm wondering just where in fact they found these babies that played Sunny? They were fantastic and I totally bought the performance they managed to get out of them. I don't know how the filmmakers did it, but they actually managed to get a performance out of these babies! Contrary to what a lot on here seem to think about Jim Carrey, I thought he was absolutely perfect. He's far more subtle here than I've ever seen him (excepting in Eternal Sunshine). In fact, shortly after he showed up on screen he ceased to be Jim Carrey to me. He became Count Olaf and later whomever it was that Olaf was impersonating. I'm really hoping to see at least a couple of sequels to this one.

Exhaust Port

12-31-2004, 08:18 AM

I did like the kid actors in this movie too.

Mr. JabbaJohnL

01-02-2005, 07:46 PM

I just saw this today. It was kind of "meh." Jim Carrey really didn't seem to fit into this movie, which otherwise was dark, depressing, and pretty good. I mean some of his stuff was funny, but it felt too out of place. I liked how it started out with "The Littlest Elf," my dad and sister were really mad at that because they thought it was a pre-movie cartoon. :D

RooJay

01-04-2005, 02:59 PM

What do they have against pre-movie cartoons? Personally I wish more movies would have a pre-movie cartoon like back in the old days. :D

Mr. JabbaJohnL

01-04-2005, 04:53 PM

What do they have against pre-movie cartoons? Personally I wish more movies would have a pre-movie cartoon like back in the old days. :D
It was more to do with the vast amount of previews, commercials, and other crap they play before the film nowadays. They didn't want to sit through any more. :D They were like, "Ohhhh . . ." when Lemony started talking. :D